The present invention relates to a slack absorbing apparatus which absorbs a slack in a wire harness caused by movement of a movable member which receives the wire harness.
For example, an electronic equipment such as a power window motor, a door lock unit, a speaker and the like is mounted within a slide door which is used in a vehicle such like a minivan. Since it is necessary to always feed an electric power to the electronic equipment from a side of a vehicle body, and give and receive a control signal between the electrical equipment and a vehicle body, a wire harness is arranged between the side of the vehicle body and a side of the slide door. It is necessary to arrange the wire harness in this portion in such a manner as to correspond to an opening and closing operation of the slide door, and a slack absorber of wire harness is used as a part thereof.
As a relevant slack absorber of wire harness, there is an apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-76514 which is made by the inventors of the present patent. A slack absorber of wire harness 1 has a synthetic resin protector case 2 having a shape in which a top surface side bulges in a circular arc shape, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This protector case 2 is constituted by a protector base 4 fixed to a slide door 3, and a protector cover 5 assembled therein.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, wire harness entrance ports 6a and 6b are respectively provided in both end portions of the protector case 2, and a lead spring (an elastic member) 7 is arranged within the protector case 2. A proximal end portion 7a of the leaf spring 7 is inserted into a clamp groove 8a of a clamp portion 8 which is integrally provided in the protector base 4, and boss portions 8b are crushed according to an ultrasonic deposition, whereby a metal fixing device 9 is fixed to the clamp portion 8. The metal fixing device 9 presses the proximal end portion 7a of the leaf spring 7 so as to prevent the proximal end portion 7a of the leaf spring 7 from coming off from the clamp groove 8a. Thereby, the leaf spring 7 is arranged in such a manner as to freely deflect around the proximal end portion 7a corresponding to a fixed supporting point.
A wire harness 10 is arranged within the protector case 2 along the leaf spring 7, and both end sides of the wire harness 10 are respectively introduced out of the case through the wire harness entrance ports 6a and 6b. A connector 11 in one end side of the wire harness 10 introduced out of the protector case 2 is connected to a connector (not shown) in a side of the slide door 3, and a connector 12 in another end side of the wire connector 10 is connected to a connector 14 in a side of a vehicle body 13.
In the structure mentioned above, when a pulling force is applied to the wire harness 10 based on the opening operation of the slide door 3, the leaf spring 7 deflects and deforms in a direction of an arrow in FIGS. 1 and 2, and another end side of the wire harness 10 is pulled out from the protector case 2. Further, when the pulling force of the wire harness 10 is lost by the closing operation of the slide door 3, the leaf spring 7 is deflected in an opposite direction to the direction of the arrow in FIGS. 1 and 2 so as to be restored, and another end side of the wire harness 10 is pulled back within the protector case 2. According to the movement of the wire harness 10 as mentioned above, the slack of the wire harness 10 caused by opening and closing operation of the slide door 3 is absorbed.
However, in the slack absorber of wire harness 1 mentioned above, the proximal end portion 7a of the leaf spring 7 is fixed to the clamp portion 8 by using the fixing device 9 as shown in FIG. 3, therefore, the fixing device 9 is required in addition to the protector case 2, and the number of the parts is increased by just that much and a cost is increased. Since the fixing device 9 is fixed by ultrasonic depositing the boss portion 8b of the clamp portion 8, there is required a space exclusive for mounting the boss portion 8b. 
The present invention is made for the purpose of solving the problems mentioned above, and the present invention can provide a slack absorber of wire harness in which an elastic member can be securely mounted without using a fixing device. According to the present invention, it is possible to achieve a cost reduction and a space saving of a mounting space based on reduction of parts.
According to a first technical aspect of the present invention, a slack absorber of wire harness is provided with a protector case 21 obtained by assembling a protector base and a protector cover, and receives a planar elastic member having a fixed proximal portion and a wire harness arranged along a part of the elastic member within the protector case, and a part of the elastic member deflects in correspondence to a tensile force applied to the wire harness. The apparatus is characterized in that the absorber is provided with a support portion formed in any one of the protector base and the protector cover, the support portion by which the proximal portion of the elastic member is clamped, and a pressing portion formed in any another of the protector base and the protector cover, capable of engaging with the support portion and pressing the proximal portion of the elastic member from an edge direction.
According to a second technical aspect of the present invention, the absorber is further provided with a lock portion formed in any one of the support portion and the pressing portion, and a locked portion formed in any another of the support portion and the pressing portion and engaged with the lock member.
According to a third technical aspect of the present invention, a mounting structure of a wire tensioner for a protection case of a wire harness is provided. The protection case is an assembly including a first protection member and a second protection member, with the wire harness passing through the protection case. The wire tensioner has a stripe shape, and also has an elasticity in a part thereof. A distal portion of the wire tensioner engages with the wire harness to apply a tension, and a first cut and a second cut is formed in each edge of a proximal portion of the wire tensioner. A first support portion is formed in the first protection member, the proximal portion of the wire tensioner being mounted on the first support portion, and a second support portion is formed in the second protection member such that the second support portion is capable of engaging with the first support portion. One of the first cut and the second cut engages the second support portion when the first protection member and the second protection member have been combined.